Avalanche Canada has issued a special public warning for backcountry users about the dangers of avalanche in several areas of British Columbia.
The agency says after a drought in late November and early December, the province has been hit with a series of storms with snow that isn’t bonding with the old surface.
Senior avalanche forecaster James Floyer says the main concern is that the weather is expected to clear on Saturday and backcountry users will want to get out to the alpine, but that’s where the danger is greatest.
He says there’s a weak layer of snow buried between 60 and 150 centimetres of new snow and any slide triggered will definitely be life threatening.
Avalanche Canada warns that skiers and borders leaving resort boundaries and snowmobilers riding above the treeline are in the greatest danger.
Regions of concern are Northwest Coastal, central Vancouver Island, the Sea to Sky, South Coast, North Shore and from the Lizard and Flathead mountain ranges all the way to the North Rockies.